Game Notes: Wittenberg runs toughest gauntlet on 2000 schedule; Denison comes to town next

Game 6: Wittenberg (5-0, 2-0 NCAC) vs. Denison (1-3, 1-1 NCAC)
Saturday, Oct. 7, 2000 Kickoff: 1:30 p.m. Edwards-Maurer Field

Setting the Scene: The winningest NCAA Division III football program in the country has remained true to form in 2000. The fifth straight win to open the season came last Saturday in Meadville, Pa. as the Wittenberg Tigers responded well to their first test with a hard-fought 35-21 victory over the host Allegheny Gators.

The Tigers, who extended their overall regular season win streak to 26 games and their NCAC win streak to 17, are now 5-0 overall this year. Wittenberg has assumed its customary position atop the North Coast Athletic Conference at 2-0. Joining Wittenberg among the conference undefeated are surprising Earlham, which will get a stern test this week at Ohio Wesleyan, and Wooster, which gets a test of its own this week when Wabash comes calling. And perhaps most importantly, the Tigers capped what appeared to be the toughest three-game stretch on the 2000 schedule, defeating Alma College at home and league rivals Wabash College and Allegheny on the road in back-to-back weeks.

Denison University invades Springfield and Wittenbergs Edwards-Maurer Field with its first burst of momentum of the year. The Big Red handed first-year head coach Nick Fletcher his first win last week with a 21-14 decision against neighboring conference rival Kenyon. Denison is 1-3 overall this year, and 1-1 in the NCAC.

Last Week: Wittenberg made it four wins in a row over Allegheny as the Tigers responded to their first significant second-half challenge of the 2000 season by ripping off two late touchdowns to break open a 21-21 game and record a 35-21 victory.

Unlike previous games, the Tigers played the role of counter-puncher in this one. After Allegheny which is now 2-3 this year with all three losses coming against Top-10 opponents put the first points on the board, the Tigers responded in lightning-quick fashion. Junior defensive back Jason Jackson (Columbus, Ohio/South) ran 94 yards untouched with the ensuing kickoff to knot the game at seven. It was Jacksons first career touchdown, and it tied a Wittenberg school record for longest kickoff return previously set by Leighton Antonio in 1986 against Baldwin-Wallace.

In the second quarter, the Tigers threatened to break the game open as senior quarterback Anthony Crane (Indianapolis, Ind./Ben Davis) loosened up the Gator defense by hitting on several big passing plays. Senior wide receiver Labon Storts (Columbus, Ohio/Westland) was his favorite target on this day, catching six passes that included a 16-yard TD from Crane early in the second quarter. Senior fullback Gary Henson (Columbus, Ohio/Marion-Franklin) tacked on the teams third TD from a yard out with 6:16 left in the first half to make it 21-7.

A pair of costly turnovers gave the Gators a burst of momentum they carried into the second half, leading directly to two touchdowns and a tie game as the third quarter came to an end. The Tigers, however, responded in strong fashion as Storts and Crane hooked up again on an 18-yard touchdown pass on the first play of the fourth quarter to cap a 4-play, 81-yard drive. The drive was highlighted by senior tailback Casey Donaldsons (South Charleston, Ohio/Southeastern) two bursts of 13 and 42 yards, which gave him the necessary yardage to break the all-time NCAC rushing record of 4,248, previously held by Chris Spriggs of Denison. Donaldson also capped the scoring with a one-yard plunge midway through the fourth quarter, giving the Tigers an insurmountable 35-21 lead and himself a share of two more NCAC career scoring records. He finished the game with 158 yards (132 in the second half) and now has 56 career touchdowns and 336 career points.

Defensively, the Tigers finally bottled up the potent Allegheny offense and one of the top rushers in the country, Shane Ream, who finished with 88 yards on 25 carries. Junior defensive tackle Juan Howard (Wooster, Ohio/Wooster), junior linebacker Dustin Goldsbury (Columbus, Ohio/Ready) and senior linebacker Trevor Yost (Wooster, Ohio/Wooster) all finished with double-digit tackle totals. Junior defensive tackle Tim Daoust (Toledo, Ohio/Central Catholic) and sophomore defensive end Allen DAndrea (Naples, Fla./Barron Collier) both had strong games as well, putting three tackles for loss into the scorebook each.

The Opponent: Denison, coming off a 4-6 campaign in 1999, expected some good things this year with 43 letterwinners returning for new coach Nick Fletcher. Thus far, however, there have been some close calls and tough times for the Big Red including a 28-27 loss to Waynesburg in Week 2 of the season before Denison broke the ice with a 17-14 victory over Kenyon last week.

The Big Red has been outrushed 809-117 and doesnt have a running back with 100 yards total through the first four games. But Denison doesnt pretend to be a running team. Quarterback Greg Neuendorf is the NCAC leader in passing yardage per game (287.5) and total offense (282.5), and he has driven the team this season.

Denisons spread offense, which now ranks 11th in the nation in passing, has gotten a lot of receivers into the act. Five receivers have at least 12 catches and 100 yards already this season. Tops among them is former quarterback Ryan Hite, who ranks among the conference leaders with 21 catches for 241 yards.

On the other side of the ball, senior defensive back Tim Nicholas, freshman linebacker Tyler Branstool and sophomore defensive back Hank Betts lead the squad with more than 30 tackles apiece. Junior defensive lineman Jason Moore has recorded five sacks for 45 yards, while Branstool and senior defensive lineman John Swickrath have contributed three sacks each.

Rankings: Wittenberg finally made a move in the various national media polls released last week, thanks to the defeat of defending NCAA Division III national champion and top-ranked Pacific Lutheran. In the American Football Coaches Association Division III poll, the Tigers are sixth. In Don Hansens Football Gazette poll, Wittenberg ranks 9th. And in the Columbus Multimedia poll, the Tigers have climbed to No. 2 in the nation.

Wittenberg also continues to make its mark in the NCAA and NCAC individual and team statistical ratings. The Tigers rank 14th in scoring offense at 38.0 points per game; 29th in rushing defense at 83.4 yards per game; and 26th in total defense with an average of 228.6 yards per game.

In the NCAC, the Tigers rank first in four of the 10 team categories listed in the conferences weekly release: scoring offense, punting (37.0 yards net per punt), pass efficiency (143.7) and kickoff returns (22.5 average per return).

Individually, three Tigers appear in the rankings. Senior punter Matt Gallatin (Johnson City, Tenn./Science Hill) has worked his way up to 11th nationally with a 40.3 yards per punt average. And Casey Donaldsons fantastic senior campaign has vaulted him into 15th in the nation in scoring offense with a 12.0 points per game average. Donaldson has scored 10 touchdowns on the ground this season, and he has thrown for another score. And Jason Jackson, after his game-changing kickoff return TD against Allegheny, now ranks seventh in the nation in that category with a 33.2 average.

In the NCAC, Donaldson is No. 2 in rushing (123.2 yards per game) and scoring behind Alleghenys Shane Ream. Anthony Crane ranks fourth in passing average per game (198.6) and sixth in total offense (183.0). Junior wide receiver Steve DeGraffinreed (North Canton, Ohio/Hoover) ranks ninth in receptions per game (4.40) and second in receiving yards per game (84.8). Gallatin is tops in punting, and senior placekicker Ryan Walker (Newark, Ohio/Newark) is No. 4 in scoring with 22 extra points and six field goals, a total which is tops in the conference. Also Jackson now tops the league in kickoff return average.

The Coaches: Wittenberg is coached by Joe Fincham, who has compiled a 45-4 overall record through the midway point of his fifth season. His record in the regular season is 43-2, and his NCAC mark is 29-2. The former Ohio University standout, who was the NCAC Coach of the Year in 1998 and 1999, has led the Tigers to the second round of the Division III playoffs in each of the last two seasons, and his teams have captured at least a share of the NCAC title each of the last three seasons.

Denison is coached by Nick Fletcher, who is in his first season coaching the Big Red after five seasons at the helm of Eureka (Ill.). His record there was 27-22, and the Red Devils won the Illini-Badger Conference title in 1995. Fletcher took home conference Coach of the Year honors twice (1995 and 1997).

Player of the Week Again: Not surprisingly, Casey Donaldson was named NCAC Offensive Player of the Week on Oct. 1. It was the second such honor for Donaldson in the 2000 campaign, and the fifth time in the last two years that the two-time NCAC Player of the Year was so recognized. The Wittenberg career rushing leader rambled for 132 second-half yards en route to his fourth 100-yard rushing game in five outings in 2000. In the process, he broke the NCAC career rushing record that was previously held by Chris Spriggs of Denison, who played from 1983-86.

Donaldson now has 4,332 yards in his illustrious career, putting him No. 1 in Wittenberg history, No. 1 in NCAC history, and also unofficially at No. 21 in NCAA Division III history. When the 2000 season started, Willie Beers of John Carroll (1989-92) was in the No. 21 position with 4,332 yards on 848 carries. He is now joined in the record books by Donaldson, who has done it in 723 totes. Next up on the Division III rushing list is Tim Lightfoot, who had 4,380 yards on 876 carries from 1992-95 for Westfield St.

But thats not all for Donaldson. He also has moved into the all-time rankings for scoring. Already the school and NCAC record-holder for rushing touchdowns, Donaldson tied Alleghenys Stanley Drayton for the conference marks in overall touchdowns (56) and points scored (336). The latter places him in a tie with Drayton and R.J. Hoppe of Carroll at No. 17 on the NCAA Division III career scoring list, based on the rankings at the beginning of the 2000 season. Next up is Jason Wooley of Worcester Tech, who scored 55 touchdowns and kicked eight extra points from 1990-93.

Briefly... Senior quarterback Anthony Crane (Indianapolis, Ind./Ben Davis) is putting together his best season, completing 66 of his first 123 passes for 993 yards and eight touchdowns. His career bests for a season are 93-of-161 for 1,399 yards and 11 touchdowns, marks he posted in his first season as a starter in 1998. Cranes career numbers are now 237-for-423, 3,656 yards and 28 TDs. Those rank Crane fifth in completions on the Wittenberg career list and fourth in passing yardage. Charlie Green, who donned the Red & White from 1961-64, holds both records with 325 completions in 555 attempts for 5,575 yards and 61 touchdowns.

Senior wide receiver Labon Storts (Columbus, Ohio/Westland) and junior wideout Michael Aljancic (Louisville, Ohio/Louisville) are moving up the Wittenberg career charts as well. Aljancic didnt catch a pass against Allegheny after back-to-back big games against Alma and Wabash, but he still has 21 catches for 339 yards on the season, giving him 75 catches and 1,128 yards in his career.

Storts got off to a slow start in 2000 after leading the team with 614 yards on 31 catches in 1999. But in the last two weeks he has caught six passes each game to run his season numbers to 16 receptions for 270 yards, giving him 81 catches for 1,385 yards in his career, moving him into the Top 10 in Wittenberg history in both lists. Next up on the list for Storts is Russ Fedyk, who played from 1995-99 and caught 84 passes and 1,307 yards, while Aljancic is just five catches behind Mark Peters, who played from 1991-94 and caught 80 passes for 1,146 yards.